How useful is a bike in SHTF if we had an EMP or had to navigate areas where a car wouldnt work? How much further can the average person go on a bike than on foot? Who makes the best most hardcore folding bicycle out there?

How useful is a bike in SHTF if we had an EMP or had to navigate areas where a car wouldnt work? How much further can the average person go on a bike than on foot? Who makes the best most hardcore folding bicycle out there?

I am 6'3 240 pounds of muscle. Will this bike work well for my size? Will this bike last if stored in my trunk? Wish they made a rust/ rot proof version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snafu21

It's a lost cause, mate. If the bike is as large as your ego requires, you won't be able to get your leg over it.

I will have to assume that this gentleman is sincere and really needs information for a emergency situation. While I think his way of expressing himself might put off some people here, his concerns are equally as valid.

The folding or fold-up bicycle is one of the most flexible and suitable means of getting around in an hostile or emergency crisis situations. The ability to fold or separate down into a collapsed more compact package makes them this way. This is why my father bought me my first folding bicycle (a very simple 20" one) and I continued to buy some more as finances permitted me. While he was not envisioning World War III, we experienced transit strikes, plus a more hostile group of new neighbors that take advantage of people when they are distracted or weak and definitely don't help each other anytime.

These bikes have been used in most wars & police actions since the late 19th century. While they were generally not as used as much as say, a motorized jeep, they have been used in various situations that call for a silent stealthy ride. The Montague is one recent example for the US forces. But any bike can be pressed into service if the need arise. Mine follow a simple, easy to maintain concept including steel frames, internal hub gearing, sitting upright, smaller wheel diameter (16-20 inches), no fancy accessories that might add too much weight, and a "funny looking" or "clown/kid bike" look to them. The idea is that the bikes remain as boring and stupid as they can and not draw attention to me or them. And be dependable in a situations that require no breakdown of the bike(s) in question.

Not all folding bikes usages are so depressing. I have been finding more and more usages for them over the years just like others have done in their own situations:

Don't forget, the Local Bike Shop won't be able to fix it for you. Get a full set of Park Tools to go with it. And remember, when the oil runs out, you'll have to go back to hunting Right whales to keep anything that revolves, revolving.

Is the USA always teetering on the brink of total anarchy, or is that just their movie industry's portrayal? I'm still trying to lay in stocks of Soylent Green.

I saw a Zombie film once, and nobody used a bicycle to escape from them. I imagine zombies have like, tyre-puncture strips or something anyway. So, an Emergency Bicycle would need like, ten packs of spare tubes, and 50 litres of water zip-tied to it.

What the heck are SHTF, EMP and EPO? None of these things happen to folding bicyclists in Britain. Is it the same as STP? Or STFU?

I suspect SHTF has something to do with something you don't talk about in polite company hitting the fan. No clue about EMP.

Personally I'm curious why anyone wants to keep a bike in the trunk of their car and never use it.

Ah, thank you. SHTF. Yes, indeed, I see now. The OP (original poster) confuses things by contextually mispresenting the acronym as a noun.

I've been reading FF's blog and she says: "For all intents and purposes, the United States is simply dead. That country which exists now that calls itself by that name is any one's guess as to what it is exactly."

So, if it's dead, an Electro-Magnetic Pulse caused by a thermonuclear explosion, isn't going to make things a whole lot worse. But it will fubar (look it up) the central locking, and Kip42 won't be able to get his trunk open.

Then what?

Already, nuclear decay has rendered the two links the original poster presented us with as nothing more than spam-fluff. FF, my dear, I believe you may have been dizzily affected by 6'3" of pure processed meat in a tin.

I've been reading FF's blog and she says: "For all intents and purposes, the United States is simply dead. That country which exists now that calls itself by that name is any one's guess as to what it is exactly."

So, if it's dead, an Electro-Magnetic Pulse caused by a thermonuclear explosion, isn't going to make things a whole lot worse. But it will fubar the central locking, and Kip42 won't be able to get his trunk open.

Then what?

Already, nuclear decay has rendered the two links the original poster presented us with as nothing more than spam-fluff. But hey, you wanna take him as sincere, FF, then you must.

Welll.....perhaps. I just spotted this on my local conservative major Los Angeles Times newspaper:

For The Self-Reliant, The Wild Is A Free Buffet
Christopher Nyerges leads the curious on an expedition to see what in nature they can and can't eat. One person's garden weed is another's salad.

Whatever your own views happen to be, there are many people around here that seem to be quietly questioning & practicing what they are believing. After all, this is still Earthquake Country. No need to wait for an nuclear blast. I personally doubt that it will ever get that extreme.

As for the good ol' USA, I was thinking of the country as my parent's generation knew it before I was even born. Before the military industrial complex of post WWII, before the Atomic threat (and add terrorist one too). I don't know what to think now.

Noooooooo, come on FF, when the SHTF you're going to saunter up into the hills on your folding bike and pick wild radishes? Them hills will be full of varmints with M16s and Barratt .50 cals. Anything that moves will be the first to die.

I appreciate your dismay at the cultural decline of - in your case the USA - in mine, the UK. My grandparents said much the same thing. We're told it's 'progress'.

Folding bikes have been engineered to address all sorts of problems, but this is the first time I've ever heard the question, "Which folding bike is best for surviving the apocalypse?" Seriously? I strongly suspect that if SHTF and EMP occurs, life as we know it will probably no longer be worth living. But Rambo the OP could always ask at his LBS. :-)

Seems a folder in general would be the wrong way to go in an apocy-clips. Figure what you want is mechanical simplicity- the fewest possible parts to break, the easiest thing you can find replacement parts for. Pretty much the same as commuting.

I suggest the circa 1989 low-end mountain bike. No suspension fork, room for 2.5" tires. If it was me and I was building the lone bike of the apocolypse, it'd probably be a fixed gear. Not because I like fixed gears (I don't) but because it's the drivetrain with the lowest possible amount of maintenance- just keep the chain oiled, and that's it. Plus, it doubles as a brake- always good to have back up. I'd stick with v-brakes. They work well and appear on everything from wal-mart specials to higher end bikes, so they're pretty easy to replace. Lots of spares. Tires- big, heavy and easy to patch. Avoid lightweight tires.

Or, get an old pre-war (WW2) Schwinn cruiser- those things are like cockroaches.

Are you the gubernator of California by any chance? What you need is a HBummer folding bike.

Remove any trace of rubber from the wheels before you use it. Rubber don't stand up well in thermo-nuclear explosions. Also make sure the chain is COMPLETELY FREE OF OIL. Hose it down with water if necessary and allow to dry.

Ahhh geez. You've got to be kidding me. In an emergency/nuclear /viral Holocaust you're gonna have worse problems than what folder to put in your trunk. like food, water, who among your loved ones you'll bring to the cave.

"Honey, get in the car. Grandma here's a can of peas. Bye!!!"

Infact the real answer to that one is simply "any bike I can salvage from the dead carcass that was once civilization".

EMP Attack: Understand that such an attack is not hyperbole science fiction. We presently use EMPs in various parts of our life, just not on a large scale. Remember watching the “Ocean’s 11” movie? They accomplished their robbery by using a simple EMP device. An EMP (Electric Magnetic Pulse) is actually a likely enemy attack on the U.S. While it is considered less heartless than a nuclear bomb or a bio-bomb, it’s launched in very much the same way. If an EMP bomb is launched in your area, then it will essentially “fry” all electrical devices that are not stored more than 6 feet under ground. In a viable book I read recently, it estimated that only 6 EMP bombs launched onto U.S. soil would completely obliterate life as we know it. Think about it for a second. If everything electrical in our nation was debilitated, how would your life change? The banks wouldn’t be able to function. Airplanes won’t be able to travel. Cars post-1978 would indeed be useless (unless they were “hardened” specifically for such an event as the military does to many of their vehicles.) I hope you like riding a bike under such circumstances.